Saturday, October 16, 2021

Week 6 Fantasy Football RB Start'em, Sit'em

The decision on which player to start, or sit, largely comes down to the options on your roster (and/or possibly the players available on your league's waiver wire).

As an example, Zack Moss is listed below as a "start" for Week 6. And I'd certainly be comfortable going into Week 6 with him as one of my starting running backs.

Then again, Moss may be a "sit" for your team.

In other words, if you roster Najee Harris, Austin Ekeler and Moss and start only two running backs, you should start Harris and Ekeler and, in turn, bench Moss.

For a more direct answer on whether we would start Player X over Player Y, check our Week 6 Fantasy Football Rankings. Instead of making those direct comparisons, the goal here is to highlight players that we like, or dislike, for the week.

Week 6 Fantasy Football RB Start'em

Kareem Hunt, Cleveland Browns (vs. ARI)

While the Dallas Cowboys would make their case, the Browns have the league's best 1-2 punch with Nick Chubb and Hunt. Not only did Chubb (RB9) and Hunt (RB10) finish 2020 as top-10 fantasy running backs, but they have been even better so far this season. Through Week 5, Hunt is fantasy's RB5 in half-PPR scoring and Chubb is RB8.

Among running backs, Hunt is tied for 18th in touches (72), but he ranks 11th in targets (20), ninth in receptions (17), 14th in YFS/G (89) and fourth in TDs (five). Sharing the workload with Chubb, who actually has 23 more touches season-to-date, Hunt has had a minimum of 14 touches in each of the past four weeks.

Given that Chubb (calf) has been ruled out for Week 6, Hunt is one of the top plays at the position overall. Hunt has scored more than 15 fantasy points in four of five games and at least 23 fantasy points in two of his past three games.

James Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. MIA)

Robinson is coming off a season-best performance against the Tennessee Titans. In Week 5, he had 18 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown. Robinson has three consecutive games with a minimum of 19 touches and 20-plus fantasy points. In all three of those games, he has finished as a top-10 fantasy running back.

The Miami Dolphins have allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. The Dolphins have allowed three 100-yard rushers this season -- Damien Harris (Week 1), Peyton Barber (Week 3) and Jonathan Taylor (Week 4).

The Jaguars are only three-point underdogs in London this weekend. In other words, the possibility of a negative game script isn't as high as it would normally be for a team looking to end its 20-game losing streak.

Zack Moss, Buffalo Bills (at TEN)

While the Bills are a pass-first team, Moss continues to emerge as the team's RB1 over Devin Singletary. Moss was a Week 1 scratch and the duo has a nearly identical workload split since then (54 touches for Moss, 49 for Singletary). That said, Moss has been much more productive over that stretch.

With four touchdowns over that span, Moss (13.45/G) has averaged nearly twice as many half-PPR fantasy points than Singletary (7.78/G). In those four games, Moss has finished as the weekly RB16, RB14, RB24 and RB28, respectively. As usual, the Bills have one of the week's highest implied totals.

Khalil Herbert, Chicago Bears (vs. GB)

Herbert had 18 carries for 75 yards against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5. With Damien Williams expected to miss Week 6, Herbert should see another large workload when the Bears host the Green Bay Packers.

"You saw some really good times where he hit that zone and he stuck that right or left foot in the ground, planted it, and he went north and south and got 7, 8 yards every time," Matt Nagy said. "I like his vision. I like his patience. I also like his toughness, and you guys see it when he's returning kickoffs. He's smooth, and people bounce off him, so he's got good contact balance."

Week 6 Fantasy Football RB Sit'em

James Conner, Arizona Cardinals (at CLE)

Through five weeks, Conner has season highs of 53 rushing yards and 66 scrimmage yards. While those are season highs, his per-game averages are 40.2 rushing yards and 47.0 YFS.

Conner needs a touchdown -- or more precisely, two of them -- to be a top-24 fantasy running back. Fortunately, he's scored five touchdowns in the past three weeks. In the games that he has scored twice this season, he has finished as the RB12 and RB8, respectively.

In the games that he has scored only one touchdown or none at all, Conner has finished as the weekly RB44, RB58 and RB31, respectively. The Browns have one of the league's best defenses and they have allowed only 3.21 YPC on the 90 running back carries they have faced.

Alex Collins, Seattle Seahawks (at PIT)

With Chris Carson placed on IR, Collins should handle the bulk of the backfield's workload this week and the next couple of weeks. Given that Russell Wilson has also been placed on IR and the Seahawks have a difficult matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Collins is more of a volume-based flex than RB2 this week.

The Steelers have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. As five-point road underdogs in Pittsburgh, the Seahawks have the second-lowest implied total in Week 6, ahead of only the Houston Texans.

Devin Singletary, Buffalo Bills (at TEN)

Singletary had at least 12 touches in his first four games of the season, but the third-year back had only seven touches last week. Given that Josh Allen is always a threat to vulture a rushing touchdown and Moss is more likely than Singletary to get goal-line opportunities, Singletary is a low-floor flex.

Latavius Murray, Baltimore Ravens (vs. LAC)

Despite getting 19 fewer carries on the season, Ty'Son Williams (170, 5.48 YPC) has more rushing yards than Murray (168, 3.36 YPC). Even though he has the largest running back workload, Murray has been extremely inefficient (3.36 YPC) and was not targeted in any of the team's first four games. While he was targeted three times last week, Murray has single-digit touches in three of his past four games.

The Ravens have one of the week's highest implied totals, which makes Murray a TD-dependent flex option.

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